Pneumatic spring assemblies are usually used in rail vehicles as secondary springs between vehicle body and running gear for elastic support of the body. They largely decouple it from the irregularities of the rail system and make it possible to regulate out the changes in height of the body relative to the running gear frame caused by changes in load in stations.
A pneumatic spring for this purpose with an electro-pneumatic air control valve is known from DE 296 20 200 U1, in which, for regulating the height position of the vehicle body relative to the vehicle running gear frame, said position is recorded by a height sensor with an electrical output signal.
On the one hand this springing makes possible a precise detection of the height position, on the other hand the properties of the springing can be adapted to different modes of operation, so that when the vehicle is stationary for example, the emphasis is on the exact setting of the height position of the body relative to the running gear frame while by contrast, for dynamic stresses during the journey, a non-reaction to rolling movements can be achieved.
A pneumatic spring assembly is known from AT 503 256, in which a switching element is inserted into an air exchange line between a pneumatic control valve and the pneumatic spring, with which the airflow in the air exchange line can be throttled or interrupted, so that the properties of the height regulation of the pneumatic spring assembly are able to be adjusted for different settings.